Study

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

²In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

³And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

⁴For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

⁵And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

⁶As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

⁷And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

⁸They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

⁹They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

¹⁰But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous, and forsaken the Lord.

¹¹For whoso despiseth wisdom and nurture, he is miserable, and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable:

¹²Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked:

¹³Their offspring is cursed. Wherefore blessed is the barren that is undefiled, which hath not known the sinful bed: she shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.

¹⁴And blessed is the eunuch, which with his hands hath wrought no iniquity, nor imagined wicked things against God: for unto him shall be given the special gift of faith, and an inheritance in the temple of the Lord more acceptable to his mind.

¹⁵For glorious is the fruit of good labours: and the root of wisdom shall never fall away.

¹⁶As for the children of adulterers, they shall not come to their perfection, and the seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted out.

¹⁷For though they live long, yet shall they be nothing regarded: and their last age shall be without honour.

¹⁸Or, if they die quickly, they have no hope, neither comfort in the day of trial.

¹⁹For horrible is the end of the unrighteous generation.